The moment that sums up the class difference between Man City and Manchester United

The moment that sums up the class difference between Man City and Manchester United

The Red Devils were thumped 3-0 at home during the Manchester Derby…

 

Manchester United’s Sofyan Amrabat clashes with Manchester City’s Phil Foden

HIGHLIGHTS

Manchester City outplayed Manchester United, securing a comfortable 3-0 victory in the highly anticipated derby.

Rasmus Hojlund’s penalty foul gave City an early lead, with Erling Haaland scoring twice and assisting Phil Foden for the third goal.

Manchester United’s performance was criticized, with Gary Neville describing them as “obliterated,” and Jamie Carragher questioning their playing style and lack of cohesion.

In the Premier League this weekend, the main focus of attention was always going to be on the Manchester derby. The game so often delivers the goods and expectations were high, hoping for another classic encounter as Manchester United played host to bitter rivals Manchester City.

 

Of course, the Red Devils haven’t had a great start to the season, but they were coming into the game having won their last three games in a row. And while Pep Guardiola’s men still unsurprisingly sit near the top of the table, there has been a feeling that they haven’t quite been at their best so far this term. With that in mind, ahead of kick-off, it looked as though we could be in for a fascinating match at Old Trafford.

 

Man City win Manchester derby

In reality, however, Man City completely outplayed the hosts and came away with all three points in what turned out to be a comfortable outing. Rasmus Hojlund handed the away team a golden chance to open the scoring when he foolishly dragged down Rodri in the box. VAR caught him red-handed and Erling Haaland made no mistake with the penalty. The Norwegian then doubled his team’s lead shortly after half-time before turning provider for Phil Foden later on in the game as the Englishman wrapped up the scoring at 3-0.

 

It was a humiliating and frustrating performance for the Red Devils as they were outclassed on the day. At times, it felt as though they couldn’t get close to the City players unless they were deliberately trying to foul them – as we saw with Antony’s ’embarrassing’ behaviour towards the end of the game.

 

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Erik ten Hag slammed by Jamie Carragher

It was a bad day for manager Erik ten Hag as well and he, unsurprisingly, came in for heavy criticism after the game. Sky Sports pundit and former player Gary Neville said Man Utd were “obliterated” by Guardiola’s City, while Jamie Carragher slammed the lack of recognisable playing style under the Dutchman, saying:

 

“He has been here 18 months and none of us here can explain what Manchester United try to do with how they play. They play underdog football. They play counter-attack and long balls – no other top team plays that way. It’s really shocking when you see them try to play out from the back.”

 

Even during the first half, when the United were only a goal down and had at least worked hard to keep themselves in the game, some of their players looked pretty frustrated. For instance, Sofyan Amrabat was angered after giving away a foul on Phil Foden and the two men put their heads together in what threatened to spark a major incident. Rushing to his teammate’s aid, Jack Grealish showed he had Foden’s back by charging towards the opposition midfielder and pushing him away with a one-handed shove in the chest.

 

In the end, Grealish was lucky to avoid a yellow card as the other two players went into the book for their involvement in the confrontation. Perhaps Amrabat was so wound up because he’d just been embarrassed by the former Aston Villa winger. Indeed, a sharp bit of skill left the Moroccan flat out on the Old Trafford turf. It certainly wasn’t a good day for the midfielder who was then subbed by Ten Hag during the break.

 

 

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The moment that summed up the gulf in class between Man City and Manchester United

Manchester City cruised to another easy Old Trafford win on derby day and one of their goals in the 3-0 success showed the difference between the two teams.

 

 

City celebrate their superb second goal at Old Trafford

 

For one brief moment in the second half of the 191st Manchester derby, City reduced Old Trafford to a training pitch. They swept from one end to the other, unchecked by the static defenders but moving men and ball with stylish and simplistic accuracy.

 

Ederson had the ball, but it moved through Kyle Walker, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland before ending up in the opposite net. It went from end-to-end, side-to-side, but United never got near it.

 

How you define the goal will depend on the colour of your shirt. For the ‘boys in blue’, as the away end sang, it was another work of art in City’s increasingly impressive gallery. If red is your derby day colour of choice, then it was an indictment of everything wrong. Too easy, too soft.

 

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In reality, both can be right. It was too good from City, but too soft from United. City can score this type of goal against any team, but usually, they have to work a little harder for it.

 

What it did do was sum up the divide between these two sides of Manchester. ‘Mind the gap’, the away end had sung. It’s impossible to avoid. It’s now so wide that if you fell in you might never get out.

 

It was a move that ended with Haaland, perhaps destined to become the most clinical striker the English top flight has ever seen, given the freedom of half of the six-yard box to bury his header. There were 41 minutes to go but it felt like it was game over.

 

It’s only 10 months since United won this derby, coming from behind late on to close within three points of City. At that stage, it did feel like the gap was closing, but it was just a City team struggling to locate top gear. United were flat out and they couldn’t maintain it.

 

The season finished with United showing signs of wear under Erik ten Hag and City winning the treble. ‘Champions of England, champions of Europe’, the away end bellowed. This season is shaping up to be an entertaining scrap at the top of the Premier League, but only one team in Manchester is involved in it.

 

This was Guardiola’s 20th derby in charge of City and his 11th victory. He can add this one to the list of easy afternoons. When he spoke on Friday the Catalan tried to show respect to United, he tried to show they’re taken seriously. But it’s hard to do that. Guardiola was on the money when he said they’d only really been close to his side once, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge. Ten Hag doesn’t look like changing that and there has to be a good chance that when Guardiola comes here next season, he will be shaking hands with yet another United manager.

 

This derby day success actually started with City below their best in the first half. They led at the break having not played that well. There were times when they were slack in possession, with Josko Gvardiol and Phil Foden the chief culprits. United rarely threatened Ederson’s goal but when they did it usually came about through a mistake from the visitors.

 

That was the case when Scott McTominay failed to make the best of an excellent opportunity early on and then when Foden played Rasmus Hojlund through on goal. United wasted both attacks and it did feel like they lacked the weapons to hurt Guardiola’s side.

 

So it proved. Once City found that control they cherish they cruised through the second half. Once again the last rites of an Old Trafford derby were performed in front of a sparsely

populated Old Trafford. This is getting all too easy for City.